28 / 90
16
CUPS
AND
THEIR
CUSTOMS.
his
cares
in
wine^
as
well
as
his
body,
matters
but
little,
we
think,
to
our
readers.
We
may
however
mention,
that
although
great
suspicion
has
been
thrown
on
the
truth
of
the
story,
the
only
two
contemporary
writers
who
mention
his
death,
Fabyan
and
Comines,
appear
to
have
had
no
doubt
that
the
Duke
of
Clarence
was
actually
drowned
in
a
butt
of
Malmsey.
In
the
records
kept
of
the
expenses
of
Mary,
Queen
of
Scots,
during
her
captivity
at
Tutbury,
we
find
a
weekly
allowance
of
Malmsey
granted
to
her
for
a
bath.
In
a
somewhat
scarce
French
book,
written
in
the
15th
century,
entitled
^
La
Legende
de
Maitre
Pierre
Fai-
feri,^
we
find
the
following
verse
relating
to
the
death
of
the
Duke
of
Clarence
:
'^
I
have
seen
the
Duke
of
Clarence
(So
his
wayward
fate
had
will'd)^
By
his
special
order;
drown'd
In a
cask
with
Malmsey
fill'd.
That
that
death
should
strike
his
fancy^
This
the
reason,
I
suppose
:
He
might
think
that
hearty
drinking
Would
appease
his
dying
throes."
A
wine
called
"
Clary
^^
was
also
drunk
at
this
period.
It
appears
to
have
been an
infusion
of
the
herb
of
that
name
in
spirit,
and
is
spoken
of
by
physicians
of
the
time
as
an
excellent
cordial
for
the
stomach,
and
highly
efficacious
in
the
cure
of
hysterical
affections.
This
may
in
some
measure
account
for
the
statement
in
the
Household
Ordinances
for
the
well
keeping
of
the
Princess
Cecil,
afterwards
mother
to
that right lusty
and
handsome
King,
Edward
IV.
;
we
there
find
it
laid